The world knows Bibby Simmons for singing Elvis Presley’s hit songs. Simmons is the true “Black Elvis,” after all.

But there’s much more to Simmons than The King’s works. He’s got plenty of his own to share.

“As I was singing Elvis’ music over the years, people kept asking me, ‘Hey, have you got your own music?’ It got embarrassing to tell them no,” Simmons said. “They kind of inspired me to start writing myself. Over the years, I’ve wrote 20 to 25 songs. I just haven’t never released them. I sing them every once in a while, but I’ve got a lot of music out there. And when I try it out, I get a good response.”

One of those songs is “Don’t Play With Love,” which he recently performed at the Montgomery Advertiser.

“That’s a true story,” Simmons said. “That song, I prayed for it. God gave it to me.”

There are more originals ahead for the Montgomery resident. “I’ve got a bunch of songs in my head. I just haven’t sat down and wrote them,” Simmons said.

Quite often when he does perform them in public, people think Simons’ songs are something from Elvis they haven’t heard before.

“I just put it in. They never know the difference,” he said.

Simmons said his love of music ties in with his early experiences watching Elvis nightly on TV starting at about age 6. “They used to have Elvis Presley on the late show. At 10 p.m., he used to come on there, and my grandfather was a great big Elvis fan,” he said.

Singing Elvis songs is a way for Simmons to keep his grandfather’s memories alive.

“When I sing Elvis, I feel like I’m singing with my grandfather,” Simmons said. “That’s why I get out there, and I really enjoy what I do. It’ll be just like me and my grandfather out there on that stage. I can hear him in the background saying, ‘Go, baby, go!’”

And go he has. Simmons said he’s performed on many of the stages Elvis performed on, from Las Vegas to Europe. As tempting as it was to keep touring abroad, Simmons said he had to get back home to his family.

“I’m glad I did, because five years later the good Lord called my wife home,” Simmons said. “I’m still struggling. When I’m on stage now, I’ve got my wife, my mother, my father and my grandfather. That’s a good thing. That’s my company on the stage. If you see a group up there with me, that’s what’s backing me. But the real group is the one that you can’t see.”

Just last year, he checked off another box on his Elvis to do list when he visited, and sang inside, at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee for the first time.

“They knew who I was when I walked through the door,” Simmons said. “They said, ‘What took you so long, Black Elvis?’”

He’s passed along his love of music and Elvis to his family. Simmons said he’s got three grandkids who are also singers. “They’re singing like grown people,” Simmons said.

Along with singing, Simmons plays guitar, bass and drums. He puts his skills to use regularly at North Montgomery Baptist Church, where he’s been a member for 37 years.

“Any time you can get out there, and you can open your mouth and have the nerve to stand up in front of somebody, you’re an entertainer. Don’t let nobody discourage you of that,” Simmons said. “Whatever you want to be, you can be. Just don’t give up and do it the right way. Keep your name clear. Help others. God will take you the rest of the way.”